New memoir revisits Gandhi family tensions and Maneka departure

Sonia Gandhi's new memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, revisits her relationship with Maneka Gandhi and the tensions surrounding Maneka's departure from the family household after Sanjay Gandhi's death. HarperCollins India confirms that the book was published on November 10.

In extracts reported by the published report, the Indian Express and published reporting reporting carried by India Today, Sonia recalls initially welcoming her younger sister-in-law before family and political disagreements grew. She describes Indira Gandhi asking Maneka to choose between ending political activities Indira opposed and living elsewhere.

These are the author's recollections and interpretation of a disputed family history, not an independently established account of every private conversation. Published reporting indicated that Maneka and her family had not commented on the passages at the time of its report. The new development is the publication of the memoir, rather than a new event in the historic dispute.